LEADERSHIP
Georgia Dean
LASER SHARP
Moving at lightning speed to grab an opportunity is all in a day’s work for this beauty franchisee. By Sarah Stowe
G
eorgia Dean is on a fast track to success. The Australian Skin Clinics franchisee is going about her new business with all the high energy you’d expect from a serial entrepreneur; an entrepreneur who started a tutoring company when she was at uni, developed the Naked Bronz bikini line, and has now invested in the beauty business. Oh, and she’s just 22. When Inside Franchise Business spoke to this pocket-powerhouse, she was one month into her new business. “It’s been a lot of fun, there was turmoil initially getting it up and running but we started with two staff, now we have a team of eight.” Georgia’s story is testament to a pacy approach to life. She bought the Australian Skin Clinics existing franchise after spending six months working on marketing at head office. “It was an existing business, it closed down abruptly and I had an offer to take it up quickly,” she reveals. And by quick, think lightning speed. “The opportunity came up, and within a 72-hour period I had resigned from head office, moved from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, done full renovations on the clinic and opened for business. I hardly slept, I had 3am and 4am nights.” Both the franchisor and Georgia wanted a swift re-opening of the suddenly closed business to ensure a valuable customer base wasn’t lost. “There was a very big existing client
base and and I just wanted to make it as smooth as possible,” says Georgia.
INSIDE LOOKING OUT A need for speed can derail many a franchisee. But Georgia had a particular advantage, working within the head office team. “I’d seen a proven track record for Australian Skin Clinics for months, seen it was a proven method time and time again. If you have the right management, and know how to run it, market it, and run a team well, you can do it. This is a winning formula. “I was mainly interested because I’d seen how head office works, how they work with franchisees. Typically franchisees don’t see it inside out. That’s
what convinced me the most. I believed in it. And I knew if I put enough time into it, it would be a success.” Of course, while the rubber-stamping of the purchase came quickly, the decision to invest in the business was the culmination of a long period of waiting. “I’d been working at head office since March this year; the whole time I wanted to take over a clinic. I was waiting for the right opportunity. “And the conference in July sparked my interest even more.” It was the Australian Skin Clinics’ national conference where Georgia met a Melbourne-based franchisee who could see the potential of a business partnership. When the Newmarket clinic was on offer, Adam and Georgia formed a 50/50 joint venture to invest in the business.
FEB/APR 2020 | 36 | WWW.FRANCHISEBUSINESS.COM.AU
